Merry and Estella
by HoshikoIzumi
Summary: Short fic about Merry and Estella. From Merry as a child, to the death of Estella Brandybuck, short and sweet, read and review!


'Nuh-uh!'

'Uh-huh!'

'Noooo!'

'Yes!' The little hobbit lass said, stamping her foot into the ground. The two hobbit children had been fighting for so long, it was difficult to tell if they even remembered what they were fighting about. 

'How do you know?' The hobbit lad said, and the girl stuck her nose in the air. 

'I just do.' She said, and stuck her tongue out. When she did so, he pulled her hair, and she screamed. 'Meriadoc Brandybuck!' she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. 'I'm telling my mummy on you!' she said, running back to her house Merry stuck his tongue out after her, and turned, going back into his hobbit hole. When he arrived, though, an angry Esmeralda looked down at him, arms crossed, tapping her foot. 

'Did you pull that poor Bolger-lasses' hair?' she asked sharply, and Merry looked down at the ground. 

'No!'

'What?'

'Yes…' he admitted. His mother nodded, and picked him up by the breeches, setting him on her lap, where she gave him a quick slap on the bottom with a spoon. He cried out, letting tears run freely down his cheeks. She obviously felt no sympathy, though, and set him in a corner of the hobbit-hole. He pouted successfully in the corner. 

'I hate you, Estella Bolger!' he muttered to himself, crossing his arms. 

Estella shook her head as she watched the full-grown hobbit dancing on the table, singing the pub song, along with his best friend Pippin. Meriadoc Brandybuck, the loudest, sneakiest, most…

'Immature hobbit in the Shire!' she said as he attempted to get off of the table. He succeeded, but not before Pippin fell on his bottom and pulled Merry down with him. The two laughed harder as they got up and put themselves to another table. She rolled her eyes, and turned to Marigold Gamgee, who shook her head. 

'You really do not give him enough credit.' She said, sipping her ale, 'he is not that immature, I mean, yes he could grow up a little, but where's the fun in that?' Estella snorted. 

'He is an annoyance.' She said, and looked over at them. Marigold's brother was in the way, though, and she found him staring behind the counter. 'Samwise is looking at her again.' She giggled, and Marigold sighed. 

'Yes, now if Sam would actually talk to Rose, he might get somewhere.' She said, and the girls giggled to each other. 

Merry helped the Pippin over to a table, and he turned, eyes drifting over the pub. They stayed in one particular spot, though, and when Pippin caught him he shook a shaky finger. 

'Merry, she'll come over and scream if you keep looking at her.' He said, and Merry shook his head. He hadn't even realized he was doing it. 

'Oh, I know. Believe me Pip, if any one knows of her temper its me. She has never forgiven me since I pulled her hair that one day…' he said dreamily, and Pippin smacked him on his shoulder. 

'Come along, then, there are many other nice hobbit lasses in the Shire!' he said, and Merry laughed. He knew Pip feared for his health. 

'If you're getting the idea that I like her you're wrong, I can't stand her voice.' He said, and turned, drinking his ale again. That had come out a bit too nice for the tone he had meant. 

Estella looked from behind a tree in the Shire, one of the few left in this particular area. The Dark Men had left the Shire six years ago, and though most had grown back, some still had not. Master Samwise just hadn't had the time to tend to everything yet. But it was not the tree she was interested in; it was the hobbit that was behind it. 

Estella had heard that one day Merry had fallen after being chased by Farmer Maggot, never being seen again. They all presumed him, Peregrin, Samwise, and Frodo dead until they had returned two years later, Peregrin and Merry dressed in armor of far-away lands. Since she had seen him in the armor, her views on him changed, and she had started to see his bravery. After hearing his stories of fighting, she knew that he had changed on his adventure, and her feelings changed completely. Now, he would sit at the pub and look at her, and she would smile back, but she had always felt embarrassed now, too much to talk to him. It was amazing how many feelings can change in such a short amount of time. 

It was dark inside a bedroom of Crickhollow. In the darkness Merry stroked a head of medium-brown hair. He had just married Estella the afternoon before and they lay next to each other, Estella's head resting on his chest. She snuggled closer to him, and in the darkness she poised herself on her elbow, examining his face in the soft light of the half-burned out fire. Her eyes fell onto a scar above his left eyebrow, and traced it with her finger. 

'How did you get that?' she asked. It looked as if it had been a very bad gash when it was new. Merry sighed, not wanting to bring the subject up now, but he knew Estella. Once she asked she expected an answer. 

'I do not think you want to hear of it now.' He said, but she shook her head. 

'No, tell me…' she said, and he told her the story of when he had been captured by orcs. When he was done he could feel her body shaking. She was crying. 

'No, no, don't cry! It's all over now… there's nothing to worry about…' he said, and hugged her close to him, while tears fell down her little cheeks. They stayed like that until she settled down and they both fell asleep, still in an embrace. 

Merry stared dully into the fire. There were now more lines sketched into his face, and gray hair on his head. He was old, 102 years of age to be exact. He held back tears, and leaned forward in his chair. Estella had died a little over two weeks ago, and he had felt his age since then. The pain in his heart was as much as when Frodo had gone over the sea, then Samwise many years later. That was only two years ago. He looked at the lines in his hands and wondered why he stayed in the Shire; there was nothing left for him here. 

'How frightfully boring this is!' a voice said behind him. He turned to see Thain Peregrin taking the seat next to him. 'Too bad Maggot passed, eh?' he said, and for the first time since Estella's death, Merry laughed. 

'Yes, a good chase in the fields is exactly what I need!' Meriadoc said, voice still strong as his youth used to be. The sparkle in their eyes and grins on their lips had yet to loose their impish looks. They sat in silence for a moment, but there was a knock at the door seconds later. They both got up and walked to the door, rather strong for hobbits far out of their prime. Merry opened it, and through it was thrust to him a letter. He took it, and thanked the messenger hobbit that had given it to him. He closed the door, and saw that it had a rather recognizable seal on it.

'From Rohan?' He muttered to himself, and Pippin looked on with curiosity. 

'Well, what does it say?' he asked, and Merry opened it, reading the letter. 

'We have been hailed by Eomer to Rohan…' he said, eyes skimming the letter. 'He wishes to see, well, me, but I don't think he'd mind if you went either.' 

'So you are going?' Pip asked, and Holdwine nodded. 

'There is nothing left here for me…' he said, and put the note in his pocket. 'Yes, I will go.' 

'Then I will too, my friend!' Peregrin said, grinning again. 'I would love to see Edoras again, we have not been there since the War.'  The Thain then put his arm around Meriadoc, and they went into their rooms to pack. 'Besides, I refuse to let you have an adventure with out me.' 

'I wouldn't even think of it.' 

**Hello, all! This is my second installment in my hobbit-chronicles! No, really, it's not called that, I swear. ^_^;; But it is the second installment of a series of stories I plan to write of the three hobbit's that marry (Sam, Merry, Pippin). The last one I plan to do is Pippin, and I have many ideas, though he prolly won't show up for a good deal of time. Sam was first, Merry second, and Peregrin will be last. **

**Each of these stories are supposed to track their relationships with their own hobbit-lass from childhood to after she is dead. Showing how feelings change, or don't change through the years. It also shows the friendship between each other, Peregrin's will show it he most, though. At the end I plan to write a poem for all of them, so stay tuned! Bai Bai!**

**~Hoshiko**


End file.
